A surgical drape is the usual means employed for provision of a barrier between a surgical site and other fields during surgery or another medical procedure. Surgical drapes are also employed for such purposes as maintaining sterility of the surgical site and reducing potentially hazardous exposure of medical personnel to fluids expelled from the patient. While many prior art drapes are configured to minimize contact to non-sterile fields and to shield medical personnel from exposure to body fluid expelled during medical procedures, these devices do not incorporate a means for effectively collecting, retaining, or measuring expelled fluid.
For certain medical procedures, such as pelvic surgical procedures (e.g., hysteroscopy, cystoscopy), it is imperative that medical personnel monitor and accurately measure fluid being pumped into and expelled from a patient. For example, over-absorption of fluid used to distend a body cavity such as the uterus can result in shock or intoxication of the patient. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for improved surgical drapes that provide for more effective and accurate fluid collection and measurement.